


The Start of Eventually

by DjDangerLove



Series: Tarlos March Madness [9]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Slight Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Uncle Carlos Reyes, Uncle TK Strand, but again fluff, to the incoming addition to the Ryder Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29949000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DjDangerLove/pseuds/DjDangerLove
Summary: He leans against the doorframe trying to imagine a little girl bouncing on a guest bed, stuffed bunny squeezed tightly between her hands as she listens to her Uncle TK read a dramatically, adventurous bedtime story. It’s not hard at all, except for the painful beat of his heart against his chest.Or: Carlos decides he has to have a guest room if he's going to be an uncle to the newest addition of the Ryder family.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Tarlos March Madness [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189232
Comments: 26
Kudos: 244





	The Start of Eventually

**Author's Note:**

> For Twinkleballa on Tumblr who requested painting a room or rearranging furniture 🖤
> 
> Tarlos March Madness #9 of 31

The idea had sprouted a couple of weeks ago after sitting through a marathon of home renovation shows as TK recovered from a bout of food poisoning. His boyfriend had groaned into the bucket he held in his lap as the demolition team ripped a kitchen sink from the wall and spewed brown liquid all over the floor, demanding Carlos change the channel. That had been the end of it, or so Carlos had thought. 

Now, it’s a month out from Grace’s due date and Carlos, fresh off the surprise of the Ryders gifting him the title of Uncle to their incoming little girl, wakes from a bizarre dream that leaves him unable to settle back down. He slowly peels himself from under the covers and eases out of bed so as not to wake TK who had come off a forty-eight hour shift. He crosses the bedroom on the balls of his feet and pulls the door shut behind him before heading downstairs. 

A check of the clock, this time with a less bleary glance than the one he had given his phone, tells him it’s a few minutes past five so he decides to make himself a cup of coffee and settle at the kitchen island. Waiting for his morning caffeine to brew, he leans his elbows on the counter and scrolls through his phone trying to chase away the unwanted remnants of his dream. Even though he finds the new picture of TK and Marjan in their intramural softball league uniforms on his boyfriend’s Instagram to be incredibly adorable, it does little to help him forget about his dream. 

He’d been standing in the middle of an empty room, walls bare and floor spotless, with TK standing at the door repeating the same thing over and over. _You’re not ready. We’re not ready._ He tried to say something, anything to get TK to stop saying that, but he couldn’t move his mouth. _You’re not ready. We’re not ready._ Ready for what? He didn’t know, but TK kept on and on until the walls started closing in and Carlos woke with a jack rabbiting pulse. 

The coffee marker signals the end of its task with a beep and the calming smell of hazelnut. Carlos goes about adding a splash of cream and swirling it with the spoon before planting himself back down on the island barstool to work through what has him out of sorts. 

Everything had been fine when they went to bed, TK a little more quiet than usual but he put that down as exhaustion because the man could barely stand up long enough to rid himself of his sweatpants and pullover. He tries to think of anything he might have said or done that would leave TK feeling like they were taking a step too far, too quick but he came up empty. 

His dream had been about being unprepared, a surprise he wasn’t ready for, and the only thing he could label as a surprise had been the Ryders inviting both himself and TK over one night for dinner and a game of poker on the back patio. That in and of itself wasn’t uncommon, they’d had several game nights together over the last year or so. No, the surprise came at the end of the night with the four of them sitting relaxed in deck chairs and chatting aimlessly until Judd cleared his throat after a look from Grace. _”We wanted to ask the two of you how you’d feel about our daughter calling you Uncle TK and Uncle Carlos._

Carlos had nieces and nephews, so being an Uncle wasn’t anything new for him, but it hit different this time because while he loved his friendship with the Ryders, this made them family. He supposes he’d already been considered family, but that felt like a package deal with the 126 sometimes. TK was their brother. TK was with Carlos, so Carlos was part of the group by default. 

It sends a jolt of energy through him at the thought, putting his coffee to shame. Finding the crux of the matter, he no longer feels like drinking his morning caffeine and sets it in the sink. It’s not that Carlos doesn’t love them, or want to be a part of this large, crazy family TK has brought into his life. It’s just that he’s spent so long living on the outskirts of his own family that existing in the heart of another feels overwhelming. 

He begins piddling around downstairs, washing up the few dishes in the sink and sorting through the mail he hasn’t bothered to look through before going back upstairs. A check at his bedroom door gives him a glance at TK sprawled like a starfish across the bed, covers half falling to the floor. It pushes a wave of calm over him, settling low in his belly before he closes the door again and turns to the only other bedroom in the house. 

He’s never touched it, really. He uses it as storage mostly. A few boxes stacked in the closet and a couple more in the corner. There’s a treadmill he uses maybe four times a year, preferring outdoor running no matter the weather. He’s always wanted to make use of it, but never had a reason to. Until now, he thinks. 

He leans against the doorframe trying to imagine a little girl bouncing on a guest bed, stuffed bunny squeezed tightly between her hands as she listens to her Uncle TK read a dramatically, adventurous bedtime story. It’s not hard at all, except for the painful beat of his heart against his chest.

As if sensing it, TK appears behind him, sleep warm hands wrapping around him from behind, one laying low across his belly, the other rubbing over his chest. He feels a lazy kiss pressed to his back, then the side of his neck before his boyfriend rests his chin over his shoulder. 

“Why are you up so early?”

Carlos leans back into TK, relaxing in his warmth and covering the hand on his chest with one of his own. “Couldn’t sleep.”

TK hums sympathetically while twisting himself to stand in front of Carlos, arms still secure in a hug. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Carlos assures and presses a kiss to the shorter man’s forehead when his brow furrows in disbelief. 

“So if you found me just staring blankly into an empty room before the ass crack of dawn and I told you I was fine, you would believe me?”

A laugh escapes him and he hugs TK tighter to himself. “Fair point. I was just…thinking about this room. How I’ve never really done anything with it.”

“Oh my god,” TK groans, nipping at his shoulder playfully. “Is this because we watched HGTV when I had food poisoning? Babe, just because you watch somebody renovate a house does not turn you into Mr. Handyman.”

“Hey!” Carlos swats at TK’s ass before pulling away from their hug. “I’ll have you know I’m quite handy.”

“Don’t I know it,” TK winks with a devilish grin.

Carlos rolls his eyes, not wanting to give TK the satisfaction of riling him up. “I used to do a lot of handy work around the ranch. I’m pretty sure I can handle painting four walls and putting together some furniture.” 

“Wait. What exactly are you planning to turn this room into?” 

“Just a guest room.”

“A guest room?” TK repeats, quirking an eyebrow. “You running a bed and breakfast I don’t know about? AirB&B it?”

Carlos scoffs, moving around TK to step fully into the room. “No. I was thinking about what Grace and Judd said the other night…about us being uncles. I thought…it might be nice to have a guest room set up in case…they ever need us to babysit or something? Or if somebody on the 126 needs a place to crash they wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch.”

He glances around the room as he says it, keeping himself busy and looking anywhere but TK until the man comes up behind him and spins him. He leans into his touch at the side of his face, feeling a little shy. 

“You’re the sweetest man I have ever known, you know that?” 

“It’s just a room.”

TK smiles at him but it’s almost sad. “It’s more than a room. You’re excited about the baby, but something is bothering you.”

Carlos starts to shake his head, but TK brushes his thumb over his cheek bone and he melts into the motion. “I already have nieces and nephews that I love whole heartedly, but this…is different.”

“How so?”

“I know my family loves me, but we kept each other at arm’s length for so long sometimes I felt that my place in the family was a stipulation to just being born to them. I…I am starting to realize that was never the case, but….this family with the 126, with you, feels…organic. Like I’ve grown into it and belong there.”

“You do.” TK promises, rushed but steady. Eyes never leaving his so he knows he means it. “The crew loves you, my dad loves you, I love you, and Judd’s kid…is going to be the luckiest damn kid in the state of Texas to be loved by you.”

“You don’t think I’m crazy? That this is…too much?”

“You’re planning to paint and furnish a room before the sunrise so yeah I think you’re a little crazy, but I’ve never loved you more than I do right now.” 

Carlos kisses him once and then tugs him to the doorway. “I hope you can still say that after we’ve put furniture together.” 

———————

“You know the point of this is to get the paint on the walls right?” Carlos asks, amusement coloring his voice at the sight of TK dressed in old sweatpants and a worn thin police academy t-shirt Carlos dug out from the back of his closet, both of which are splattered in several tiny droplets of paint.

TK turns to glare at him, roll brush dripping paint on the plastic covering the floor, but it’s highly ineffective. There’s paint smeared across his forehead and on the tip of his nose like he rubbed it and didn’t realize he put paint there. He’s grumpy, dirty, and adorable and Carlos reaches for his phone on the boxes stacked by the door to take a picture of him still staring daggers in his direction. 

“As an officer of the law, you should know that my lawyers will use that photo as evidence to prove that you deserved it.”

“Deserved what exactly?” Carlos questions, dropping his phone back down on the boxes after saving the photo as his home screen. He turns to TK, smiling innocently enough. 

“Your undoing.”

Carlos’ grin melts across his face into an expression he knows riles TK up. “Oh, baby, you undid me a long time ago.” 

This time though, TK doesn’t take the bait, but he has a hard time holding onto his annoyance. “Stop. I refuse to tarnish the sweet story of how much of a sap you were about painting this room for our future niece by having you take me right here in the paint.” 

“Who said I had to take you?”

He can’t find it in himself to be mad when TK drops the roll brush into the paint tray splattering it everywhere. 

“Are you going to stand around teasing me all day or are you actually going to paint something?”

Carlos steps forward and smears a new drop of paint on TK’s brow down the length of his nose. “I’ve been thinking the same thing about you all day.”

——————

Three days, and several rounds of fun under the bedsheets later, the light grey paint is dry and the black accent wall is as well. They’re standing in the room now surround by boxes of IKEA furniture they picked up the day before. TK looks like he’s about to be interrogated by Carlos’ parents again. 

“Relax. It can’t be that hard to put a bed and nightstand together.”

“Oh God, Carlos! Why?” TK moans. “You just jinxed it!”

“Tone down the dramatics, Juliet,” Carlos laughs as he bends to open the box for the nightstand. Pulling out the materials, it still looks like it will be the easiest part of this whole process but once he picks up the instructions, turns them over once, twice, and….a few more times he feels his stomach clench just a bit. 

“What is it?” TK demands, jerking the instruction pamphlet from his fingers before Carlos can move away. He doesn’t have to wait long for TK’s laugh to fill the room. “These are some detailed instructions,” he says holding it out for Carlos to look at the wordless document. 

“It’s got pictures. It’ll be fine.”

“You realize we’re the worst team at Pictionary on game night, right?” 

———————

It’s midnight by the time they get all the furniture together. 

They’re too exhausted, emotionally and physically, to even move from where they sit shoulder to shoulder against the bedroom wall staring silently ahead. 

“Are we divorced yet?” TK mumbles. 

Carlos bobbles against the wall as his shoulders shake in a delighted laugh. “We’re not even married.”

“Oh. I just assumed with the way we bickered for the last four hours we we’re married,” TK says, falling sideways to lean his head against Carlos’ shoulder. 

Carlos kisses the top of his head while putting his arm around him. “I wouldn’t mind if we were,” he offers a bit too casually, he thinks, as TK immediately sits up to look at him. 

“Not right this second,” Carlos amends, afraid that he’s said too much. “But, eventually. You know?”

“Oh,” TK says, smile ghosting across his face before he tucks himself back into Carlos’s side. “I know. I’m looking forward to eventually with you.” 

Carlos drops his head against TK’s, glances around the newly decorated room, and thinks that maybe this is the start of their eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos are appreciated. Comments are food.  
> Find me @ DjDangerLove on tumblr


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